Biography:

In addition to working as academic director of Outdoor Studies, Kevin also teaches philosophy at UAS. Kevin's primary philosophical work is in the areas of philosophy of nature and the environment and philosophy of mind. His outdoor interests are centered around alpine skiing and ski mountaineering. Kevin brings over 10 years of experience of backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering in the Chugach, Alaska, and Coast ranges of Alaska. His accomplishments include a ski descent of Denali from summit to base camp.

Education:

B.S. in Mathematics and Physics, Adams State College, CO. M.S. and Ph.D. in Mathematics, Colorado State University, CO.

Other:

Megan started at UAS in Fall 2009. In addition to teaching mathematics, probability, and statistics, she is interested in interdisciplinary teaching and research. Her research interests include applications of probability modeling, in particular with respect to ecology and biology, as well as numerical and error analyses.

Outside of academics, Megan enjoys most things active and done with friends. At the top of the current list is trail running, volleyball, and Latin dancing. When time allows, she also enjoys cooking & baking, watching movies, and catching (& gutting) fish.

Education:

Ph.D. Social
Psychology (2011); Minor in Quantitative Psychology (2008), University of
KansasM.A. Social
Psychology, University of Kansas (2007)B.A.
Psychology; Minor in Women’s Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2004

Biography:

My research
focuses on stereotyping, prejudice, and social judgment with an emphasis on intersections
of social categories (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity). In my primary line of work
I investigate the effects of prototypical standards of race and gender on social
perceptions and judgments of individuals. Specifically I am interested in
understanding the processes and outcomes of invisibility as a unique
form of discrimination that may characterize groups that do not fit race and
gender prototypes – e.g., Black women (Sesko & Biernat, 2010). My work thus far has documented such
invisibility, conceptualized as a lack of individuation of or lack of
differentiation among group members. Invisibility is evident in
perceivers’ treatment of Black women (or similarly situated groups) as
interchangeable and indistinguishable, such that their individual voices and
faces go unnoticed and unheard, relative to White women, Black men, and White
men. My dissertation and current line of research focuses on the antecedents
(e.g., non-prototypicality, low power, low numerical status), and consequences
of invisibility, and in particular strategies to reduce invisibility.

In some
other lines of research I focus on evidentiary standards of judgment,
particularly of racism, the language people use to talk about members of
stereotyped groups, and interpreters’ translation of this language (Biernat
& Sesko, under review), and
behavioral indicators of compensatory stereotyping, or tradeoffs between
“warmth” and “competence” in evaluations of members of stereotyped groups
(Biernat, Sesko, & Amo, 2009). All of these areas reflect my interest in
understanding the processes by which stereotypes guide judgment and behavior
toward individual members of stereotyped groups. I have additional interests in
the study of close relationships, and have examined the role of attachment
style on lying and authenticity in relationships (Gillath, Sesko, Shaver, &
Chen, 2010) as well as relationship-related regrets (Schoemann, Gillath, &
Sesko, under review). I am also a member of the Consortium for Police Leadership
and Equity (CPLE; see http://cple.psych.ucla.edu/), a group that brings together
police chiefs and social scientists to discuss how social science can inform
real-world problems of racial profiling, immigration, and organizational
equity. My work with CPLE has focused on organizational equity, and how to
assess and improve equity in terms of gender and race representation within police
departments.

As a new
member of the faculty here at UAS, I am excited to bring my passion and
excitement for the field of psychology both in the classroom and to
undergraduate research! In my spare time when I am not teaching, analyzing
data, or writing, I enjoy running, hiking, camping, and yoga. I am also a huge
fan of my dog Shera (the “Princess of Power”).